Sunday, 5 April 2015

Sexism and TEFL

I've previously written about different types of discrimination in TEFL. There's lookism, ageism (too old or too young), sexual orientation, name discrimination, and of course, racism. Sexism works both ways. Some places prefer male teachers, others prefer female teachers. I'm not talking about places like those in the Middle East that require the sexes to be segregated, that's totally different.

I can't speak for all of Asia, but in Korea it seems like schools that teach young children prefer young female teachers and universities prefer male teachers. I understand that traditionally kids have been taught by women, but there's also a lot to be said for having positive male role models. Academia has also been traditionally dominated by men and some universities are afraid to hire women because of maternity leave, but this has to stop.